"Hurry up, Yui!" A nine year old Setsuna said, literally dragging her expressionless, black haired friend across the parking lot. "We're gonna miss 'Suka's match at this rate!"
"But we're five minutes early." Yui droned.
The greenette waved her off. "Then we can help her scout out the competition! And we can see if any cute boys are here!"
After the two kids ran inside the venue, in this case, a modern dojo with lots of glass, Nemuri Kayama, also known as the pro heroin Midnight, also dragged her two friends towards the door. "Stop being so miserable, Shouta!" She chastised. "It's just a tournament, it'll be over before you know it!" She and her friends were all dressed in casual clothes to suit the occasion.
Shouta Aizawa, also known as pro hero Eraserhead, groaned tiredly. "I still don't get why we have to join you here. Your niece isn't even participating. It's completely irrational." He said in his usual deadpanned tone.
"That is true, Nem." Hizashi Yamada voiced in his usual boisterous voice. "Not that I mind watching the little listeners, but she isn't even fighting herself."
Nemuri paused in her walking to look back. "Er, well right. Setsuna isn't actually fighting today, but one of her friends are and she really wanted to come and her parents couldn't make it."
"So you volunteered to take her instead." Eraserhead surmised while giving the woman a flat look.
"No, actually. They asked me to do it, but it was Yui's mom that asked me to take her too. Poor girl really needs some social skills." Nemuri explained before snapping her fingers as if she just figured out the answer to a really difficult math problem. "Are you sure she's not-."
"If you say she's actually my daughter, I will leave you right here." Shouta sharply cut off, leaving Nemuri and Hizashi to poorly hide their laughs. "Let's just go inside already. It'll be irrational for us to waste time."
"Midoriya, relax." Ryoya said calmly. "It's a tournament, not a death match."
Midoriya however, did not relax. They were both in their normal training Gi's, both white and with the character from 'shotokan' on the back. "How can you be so calm? We'll be fighting in front of a crowd and against all kinds of people. Are quirks allowed? Oh, no. I don't want to get blown up in front of my mother!" As Izuku slowly fell further into a muttering spree, Ryoya sighed with the energy of a dying man. He moved quickly with a forceful flick to the forehead that actually made Izuku rear back. "Would you stop that?! You have strong fingers!" Izuku muttered with a pout, rubbing his forehead gently.
"You were muttering in circles again." Ryoya said dryly. "And to answer your questions, I'm calm because I've fought before. I've fought people way scarier than the people in this tournament." Well, that wasn't ominous at all. "And I'm confident in myself, something you desperately need. And from what I've heard, yeah. Quirks are allowed, but only melee ones that actually can be used in marital arts. So unless your power is to make things explode the second you touch them, you're gonna be fine."
Izuku wanted to retort that he knew someone who could do that, but didn't due to remembering that Bakugo wasn't in the tournament.
"It's only eight people too, so it's not like it's gonna be really intense." Ryoya continued, "And I'm on the other side of the bracket, so if I don't meet you in the finals, I'm gonna kick your ass in sparing next week."
Izuku gulped audibly at the threat but then shook away his nerves. "G-Guess I'll have to meet you there?" He tried.
"...Good enough. Ken-sensei's confidence lessons are starting to show."
Well, Izuku thought, lesson was a strong word. It was basically Ken lecturing him while they sparred and he kicked Izuku a bit harder than one would think an adult should. Was he feeling more confident in himself? Yes, but did Ken-sensei really need to kick him in the ribs to do it? Up for debate there.
"Oi," Speak of the devil, "There you two are, did you finish your stretches?" Ken asked. Both Ryoya and Izuku were slightly taken aback by the sight of the large man in casual clothes, as they were accustomed to seeing him in his trademarked red Gi. Even more surprising than his casual clothes however were his arms.
"Holy shit, you own shirts with sleeves." Ryoya couldn't help but to voice, his stoic expression changing into one of genuine shock.
Ken's smile faltered ever so slightly, and being the professional he was, he kept going as if Ryoya hadn't spoken. "They're doing the introduction in a few minutes, so you two can head to the main room while you wait."
And to the main room they went and there they met the six other fighters. As expected, Ryoya simply leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, not rude, but definitely showing that he wasn't much of a talker. Giving his anti-social friend a withering look, Izuku took note of the room. Four boys, two of which were plain looking with brown and a shaved head respectively were practicing loudly and with sloppy movements. They were clearly trying to get the girl's attention and failing miserably. The other two however, were much more tame, but still going through their own motions. One had a short blond hair and a tail and the other was a bit taller than Izuku himself, with black hair twisted in a braid and... were those scales?
The girls stood out a bit more. One had bright orange hair and teal eyes with a long ponytail hanging on the left side of her head. She was going through so rather complicated looking kata while not so subtly stealing glances at Ryoya. She might've been sizing him up from a distance, but Izuku couldn't be sure. The other girl, one who was a bit taller than Ryoya himself with long black hair, also tied into a wild, high ponytail, was openly staring at Ryoya however, but this time Izuku instantly recognized the trepidation. He heard learned from Ryu-sensei that some martial artists after training long enough could recognize a strong fighter by their presence alone so he assumed that to be the case. After all, even he had to admit that Ryoya, despite his calm and a bit lazy demeanor, simply looked strong.
After Chun-Li went to the stage and announced the event, the proceeds and thanked the audience for showing up, she started the introductions for the first fight of the day.
"Okay! Without further ado, will the first two fighters come to the ring? From the Shotokan dojo, trained personally by one of my best friends, Ryu, Izuku Midoriya! And the second fighter, coming all the way from China, Rin Hiryu!" As the two boys walked to the middle of the mat, one with more confidence than the other, Chun-Li read off the rules. "No hitting below the belt. Quirks are allowed. Winner is decided when one is unable to continue, taps out or is thrown out of the ring, understood?" Both boys nodded and gave each other a respectful bow. "Good. Round One, Fight!"
Wasting no time, Hiryu lunged forward with a right fist reared back. Izuku, taking a deep breath and assuming the classic Shotokan stance, waited in place. 'That is way too obvious, must be a faint.'
Izuku's thoughts were proven correct as he noticed Hiryu's left fist start to turn a bright green and acted quickly by planting his feet and swatting Hiryu's fist away in a manner that made it impossible for him to follow up. Then Izuku moved. He mentally started his flowchart. 'Two light jabs, wait for reaction. Dodge potential counter, feint a medium leg kick, dash forward with a heavy front kick.' It was masterful to watch it play out exactly how Izuku thought it would.
When he heavy roundhouse connected to the boy's stomach, he expected that to be enough to put Hiryu down, but was surprised to see him shakily getting up while panting. "W-wow. I had my scales up and that still knocked the wind outta me." Hiryu said slowly. "But it's not enough just yet."
Then the fight changed in tempo. Hiryu started to move faster, throwing more aggressive punches and kicks that were either blocked, dodged or parried by Izuku. Hiryu was fast and strong yes, and Izuku had no doubts in his mind that he he fought anyone else in the bracket, save for maybe one, he would've had a good chance at winning. But Izuku was used to sparring Ryoya Harushi. Hiryu simply just didn't compare. So while Izuku remained on the defensive, he kept looking for an opening. Rin's form was tight and well practiced, but he threw way too much medium and heavy punches and not enough light ones. 'Lean forward, bait the heavy jab, punish with a judo throw.' And that's exactly what he did and exactly what happened.
When Hiryu slammed onto the mat, Izuku stood over him, body relaxed but not dropping his stance. "Do you yield?" He asked cautiously.
Hiryu sighed then nodded.
"Rin Hiryu has conceeded! Izuku Midoriya wins!"
"Izuku!" Inko cried from the crowd. People were next to her complaining about the excessive amount of tears but she heard none of it. She was just so proud of her boy!
"Damn it, Inko!" The gargled voice of Hisashi Midoriya shouted over the video call. "So sorry everyone! My wife is just a bit emotional." He said in exasperation.
"Our baby won, Hisashi!" Inko cried again, reigning in the tears just enough to not flood the place but not enough to stop fully.
"I saw Inko. I'm proud of our son, but can you hold the camera still!?"
Upon bowing to the crowd and Hiryu again, Izuku walked back to the waiting area where he saw Ryoya leaning against the wall with his arms still crossed but this time, a small smirk came to his face. "You made it look easy." He complemented, holding his fist out.
Izuku beamed. "Well, no disrespect to Hiryu-san, but he isn't you." He met Ryoya's fist with his own.
Ryoya actually chuckled. "That's one down, one more to go."
"You better be sure to win your fight, Harushi-san!"
'Such a good fight and such a great show of sportsmanship! The next match up will be between one of my personal students, coming all the way from Aichi, Momo Yaoyorozu! And the second fighter, coming all the way from Hawaii, and also a student of my friend, Ryoya Harushi!"
"Well, guess I'm up." Ryoya said easily. "Against that nervous girl as well. Well, this is gonna be fun if nothing else."
Momo Yaoyorozu was many things. Smart, polite, a bit chubby these days due to growing up a bit spoiled, and a quick learner. Another thing she was right now was, as she's heard her housekeeper's say once, shook. She was well trained and had been for at least two years now, but there was something about her opponent that brought her unease. You'd think that having one of the best female martial artists in all of Asia train you would do wonders for her confidence, after all Chun-Li was the best money could buy and her parents spared no expense in helping her in her goal of being a hero.
But something about Harushi gave her a pause. Whether it was his gait, or just his general demeanor of strong and silent, she didn't know. Or maybe it was because of how highly her sensei praised the other teacher and his student before.
"You okay?" To her surprise, it was Ryoya who asked. His voice was nothing as she'd expected it to be. From his smooth tan skin, to his piercing gold eyes, to his messy black hair and ponytail, she didn't know what she expected, but it wasn't that. He sounded so... smooth and soothing. He had one hand by his side and the other nervously rubbing the back of his head. His face, though largely neutral, seemed a bit... unsure? "You seem scared."
"N-no, Harushi-san. I'm fine. A bit anxious is all." Momo replied as steadily as possible, but her voice was still tight.
Ryoya didn't respond verbally, instead just raising a brow that showed he didn't believe her.
"You two good for our second fight?" Chun-Li questioned, looking at both kids curiously. When Momo said yes and Ryoya nodded, she took it in stride. "Another fun fight in the works, Fight!"
And the fight begin.
"Don't say it."
"But Sho..."
"Do not say it."
"Shouta, really..."
"Do. Not. Say. It."
"Wow, Aizawa-san, that Harushi boy looks a bit like you." Kodai's silent voice said just loud enough for their small group to hear. Shouta's head snapped to the child with a filthy glare, but upon remembering that she was, in fact, nine years old, he turned his glare to the adults instead.
"Right?!" Mic said loud enough that they started getting looks. "He looks like a younger, cuter version of you except a darker skin and different eyes. He even has the same hair color and length!"
Setsuna, who's been openly gawking at Ryoya this whole time with a very deep blush on her face, suddenly exclaimed, "He's hot!"
Aizawa, in that moment, never wanted to die more. He gave Nemuri and Hizashi looks so dry, it could've chipped paint. "I knew this was a terrible idea to come here. Can we at least focus on the fight? This speculation is the height of irrationality."
And focus on the fight they did, which was honestly not much. It was clear from the jump that while Yaoyorozu was skilled and Chun-Li had taught her very well, Harushi was just on another level. Every move she did was expertly countered or dodged while he returned some light strikes of his own. Not enough to do any lasting damaging, but enough to remind her to tighten up. Even from Aizawa's limited knowledge on martial arts, he could tell that Harushi could've ended this fight the minute it started, but he didn't. After a particularly close exchange between the two, they separated and Harushi said something to the girl he couldn't hear. He noticed how her face shifted in confusion for a brief second before her stance changed just a bit and she threw a punch much heavier and faster than what she had done prior.
Whatever it was he'd told her clearly helped since now she was getting closer to hitting him, and when she got close enough to graze his nose, he gave a ghost of a smile and instantly closed the gap between the two and ended the fight with a smooth dodge around Yaoyorozu's punch and a swift but strong chop to the back of the neck.
"Winner by TKO, Ryoya Harushi!"
"Kid's good."
"You were trying to help her improve weren't you?" Izuku said, tucking his chin into his chest to hide his ever growing grin. "You could've ended that fight in an instant, but you chose not to. What did you say to her anyway?"
Ryoya, to his credit, kept a completely straight face. "...I told her she fights like you. Thinking too much and acting too little. I gave her a bit of advice on how to better shift her weight as to not waste too much energy on a missed hit while hitting harder."
"Awww, Harushi-san! You're such a softie!" Izuku said, faking tears. Or they were real tears, it was hard for Ryoya to tell the difference.
"...plus she was cute." He said with a casual shrug, leaving Izuku slack jawed.
The rest of the fights went by fairly quickly after that. A girl with a quirk that made her hands bigger easily took out some kid with a shaved head while two plain looking kids fought and the winner was the one with the tail.
'Will the next fighters come to the stage? Izuku Midoriya vs Itsuka Kendo!"
A/N: Thanks for reading chapter 3 of SFH. We finally see canon characters and a few that will play a big role coming up. There will be maybe two more chapters of the prologue before we catch back up to canon, but there's two major things we need to check up on before then. A hint, it involves a certain energy that's been vaguely absent so far from the story. Also, do you think Midoriya should still get OFA? I've been on the fence about it so I'll leave it up to the readers. We also see a potential love interest for Ryoya? I wonder who she'll be...
Ryuujin96: Thank you. I too wish Izuku had more time to before dealing with Bakugo but Bakugo's in for a rude awakening! And about Izuku's love interest, she'll pop up eventually. I have plans for her quirk that will make her a bit more of a dangerous fighter than she is in canon, so look out for that.
genaralraam: Thanks for the review! I hope you continue to enjoy.